Miyazawa Kiichi

Born into a family of politicians, Miyazawa graduated in law from Tokyo Imperial University in 1941 and soon secured a civilian position in the finance ministry (1942–52). In 1953 he was elected to the Diet (parliament) and in 1962 secured his first cabinet position, as director general of the Economic Planning Agency. Subsequently Miyazawa served as minister of international trade and industry (1970–71), of foreign affairs (1974–76), and of finance (1986–88). He also acted as cabinet secretary in the early 1980s and, briefly, as deputy prime minister in Takeshita Noboru’s cabinet.

Like other senior politicians in the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP), Miyazawa was tainted by the bribery scandals that rocked the Japanese establishment, and he was forced to resign as finance minister in December 1988. He soon returned to power, however, and, after being elected president of the LDP on Oct. 27, 1991, he took over as prime minister on November 5. His reascension in the early 1990s tended to mark a return to old-style politics. Nevertheless, he proved unable to unite or control the warring factions within the LDP. In June 1993 some of these factions joined with opposition parties to pass a vote of no confidence. Miyazawa was forced to resign as prime minister, and in the ensuing general elections the LDP lost control of the Diet for the first time in its 38-year history. He later served as finance minister (1998–2001), and he remained a member of the Diet until 2003.